Bureau of Justice Statistics

 U.S. Department of Justice

 Office of Justice Programs 

Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics

Sheriffs’ Offices 1999

 

Under 25,000

25,000 - 99,999

100,000 - 499,999

500,000 or more

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

1990

Population served

Percent of agencies

Sheriffs' offices using in-field computers

1999

or terminals, 1990 and 1999
 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Sheriffs’ Offices 1999

Brian A. Reaves, Ph.D.

and Matthew J. Hickman

BJS Statisticians

May 2001, NCJ 186479
U.S. Department of Justice

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Lawrence A. Greenfeld

Acting Director

Brian Reaves and Matthew Hickman,

BJS statisticians, prepared this report.

Debra Cohen, Karin Schmerler, and

Meg Townsend of the Office of

Community Oriented Policing Services

(COPS) developed the community

policing content of the 1999 LEMAS

survey instrument. Matthew Scheider,

Pam Cammarata, Greg Cooper, Gil

Kerlikowske, and Bob Phillips of COPS

also provided assistance on the 1999

LEMAS project. 

COPS provided funding for the 1999

LEMAS survey. More information on 

COPS can be obtained at their web

site: <www.usdoj.gov/cops>

The 1999 LEMAS data were collected

and processed by the U.S. Census

Bureau under the supervision of

Stephanie Brown of the Governments

Division. Census Bureau staff on the

project included Carolyn Gates,

Theresa Reitz, Martha Haselbush,

Martha Greene, Bill Bryner, Patricia

Torreyson, and Henrietta Herrin. 

Sample design, selection, and imputation procedures were conducted by

Suzanne Dorinski and Yukiko Ellis of

the Economic Statistical Methods and

Programming Division of the Census

Bureau under the supervision of Carma

Hogue.

In BJS, Tom Hester and Ellen

Goldberg edited the report and

assisted in production. Jayne Robinson administered final production.

Data presented in this report may be

obtained from the National Archive of

Criminal Justice Data at the University

of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The

report and data are available on the

Internet at: <www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs>.

Highlights iii

The LEMAS survey 1

Personnel 1

 Operations 4

Community policing 9

Computers and information systems 13

Written policies and procedures 19

Methodology 20

ii Sheriffs’ Offices 1999
Personnel

• As of June 1999, the nearly 3,100

sheriffs' offices operating nationwide

had an estimated 290,707 full-time

employees, including about 186,000

sworn personnel. 

• From 1997 to 1999, the number of

full-time sheriffs’ employees increased

by about 27,000, or 10.4%. When

only sworn personnel are considered,

employment increased by about

11,000, or 6.4%.

• Forty-eight sheriffs’ offices had 500 or

more full-time sworn personnel, and

these agencies employed nearly a third

of all sheriffs’ deputies. The largest,

the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s

Department, had 8,107 full-time

officers.

• About half of all sworn personnel

were assigned to law enforcement field

operations. Overall, approximately 

66,000 deputies had regularly assigned

duties that included responding to calls

for service.

• About a third of all sworn personnel

worked in jail-related positions, and

about 1 in 10 performed court-related

duties such as providing court security

or serving civil process.

Operations

• Nearly all sheriffs' offices provided

basic law enforcement services such

as routine patrol (97%), responding to

citizen calls for service (95%) and

investigating crimes (92%).

• In 1999, 88% of sheriffs’ offices,

employing 90% of sworn personnel,

participated in a 9-1-1 emergency

telephone system. About two-thirds of

agencies had enhanced 9-1-1 in 1999

compared to about half in 1997.

• From 1997 to 1999, the percent of

sheriffs’ offices using routine foot patrol

increased from 16% to 21%; the

percent using routine bicycle patrol,

from 6% to 9%; and the percent using

either type, from 20% to 26%.

• Most sheriffs’ offices had duties

related to traffic law enforcement

(81%), accident investigations (72%),

and traffic direction and control (58%).

• Nearly all sheriffs' offices had responsibility for court-related functions such

as executing arrest warrants (98%),

serving civil process (98%), and

providing court security (94%). About

four-fifths operated at least 1 jail.

• Fifty-six percent of sheriffs’ offices

were responsible for search and

rescue operations, while 38%

performed tactical (SWAT) operations. 

Community policing

• Sixty-two percent of sheriffs’ offices

had some type of community policing

plan in effect during 1999. About a 

third of those serving 250,000 or more

residents had a formal, written plan. 

• About 2 in 3 sheriffs’ deputies were

employed by an agency that trained at

least some new recruits in community

policing skills such as problem-solving

and building community partnerships.

Nearly two-thirds of sheriffs’ offices

serving 25,000 or more residents

offered such training.

• Sixty percent of sheriffs’ offices had

full-time sworn personnel designated

as community policing officers. Nationwide, about 15,000 sheriffs’ deputies

were regularly engaged in community

policing activities.

• Nearly two-fifths (38%) of sheriffs’

offices had full-time sworn personnel

serving as school resource officers,

with a total of more than 3,400 so

assigned overall.

• An estimated 86% of sheriffs’ offices

met regularly with community groups.

More than 40% of those serving 100,000

or more residents formed problemsolving partnerships through written

agreements, and a similar percentage

provided community policing training to

citizens.

Computers and information systems

• Nearly all (95%) sheriffs’ offices used

computers for administrative purposes

during 1999. Just 1% of all sheriffs’

deputies worked for an agency not

using computers.

• In 1999, 52% of sheriffs’ dispatch

systems were computer-aided, including more than 80% of those in

agencies serving 100,000 or more

residents. In 1990, 30% of sheriffs’

dispatch systems were computerized. 

• From 1990 to 1999, the percent of

officers employed by an agency with

computerized arrest records increased

from 70% to 91%. Increases were also

observed for criminal histories (67% to

81%), warrants (75% to 91%), and

summonses (48% to 60%).

• More than a third of sheriffs’ offices

used computers for crime analysis

(39%) and crime mapping (36%)

during 1999. This included a majority

of agencies serving a population of

50,000 or more.

• From 1990 to 1999, the percent of

sworn personnel working for a sheriff's

office using in-field computers or terminals increased from 28% to 58%.

Sheriffs' offices had about 15 in-field

computers or terminals per 100 officers

as of June 1999.

 

• About a third of sworn personnel

worked for a sheriff’s office where at

least some officers in the field could

use in-field computers to access information on wanted suspects (37%) or

driving records (32%). About a fourth

were in agencies where stolen property

(27%) or criminal history (24%) records

could be accessed.

Written policies and procedures

• Nearly all sworn personnel worked in

a sheriff’s office with written policies or

procedures pertaining to conduct and

appearance (98%), use of deadly force

(98%), use of nonlethal force (95%),

handling of citizen complaints (92%),

and domestic disputes (90%). 

Highlights

Sheriffs’ Offices 1999 iii
During 1999, the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics (BJS), as a part of its Law 

Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) program,

surveyed a nationally representative

sample of State and local law enforcement agencies operating nationwide.

Previous LEMAS surveys were conducted in 1987, 1990, 1993, and 1997.

This report presents 1999 LEMAS data

describing the personnel, operations,

community policing initiatives, computers and information systems, and

written policies of the more than 3,000

sheriffs' offices operating in the United

States. 

Except for a small number of appointees, sheriffs are elected officials. To

better reflect this status, this report

uses the term “office,” universally, a

change from past reports in this series.

Sheriffs’ offices typically serve counties

and independent cities. Although

sheriffs’ offices may have countywide

jail and court-related responsibilities,

their law enforcement jurisdiction may

exclude county areas served by a local

police department. In some counties

municipalities contract with the sheriff’s

office for law enforcement services. In

counties and independent cities with a

separate police department, the sheriff’s

office may not have any primary law

enforcement jurisdiction. 

The 1999 LEMAS survey was mailed to

3,319 State and local law enforcement

agencies, and 3,246 of them provided

data for a response rate of 97.8%.

(See Methodology on page 20 for a

description of sampling procedures.) 

This report and its companion report

(Local Police Departments, 1999, NCJ

186478, May 2001), summarize data

collected from agencies of all sizes.

For agency-specific tabulations, see

the BJS report Law Enforcement

Management and Administrative Statistics, 1999: Data for Individual State

and Local Agencies with 100 or More

Officers, NCJ 184481, November 2000).

Personnel

As of June 30, 1999, sheriffs' offices

had an estimated 290,707 full-time

employees (table 1). About 186,000, or

64%, of these employees were sworn

officers. This accounted for 27% of all

full-time sworn personnel working for

State and local general purpose law

enforcement agencies nationwide.

Sheriffs' offices employed about 9,000

sworn officers on a part-time basis.

The estimated 104,848 full-time

nonsworn personnel employed by

sheriffs’ offices in 1999 comprised

about 41% of all such employees

working in general purpose law

enforcement agencies. Sheriffs' offices

had more than 10,000 part-time

nonsworn employees.

From 1990 to 1999, the number of fulltime sheriffs’ employees increased by

about 87,000, or 43% C an average of

4.7% annually (figure 1). The number

of full-time sworn officers increased by

about 44,400, or 31%, during this time.

There were about 27,000 more fulltime sheriffs’ office employees in 1999

than in 1997, an increase of 10.4%.

Among sworn personnel, employment

increased by about 11,000, or 6.4%,

from 1997 to 1999. 

From 1990 to 1999, the number of fulltime civilian employees in sheriffs’

offices rose from 62,556 to 104,848, an

increase of 67.6%. This included an

increase of about 16,000, or 18.1%,

from 1997 to 1999. 

The LEMAS survey

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 1

Figure 1

Note: Data are for the pay period that included June 30, 1999. Table excludes State 

and local law enforcement agencies that serve special jurisdictional areas or have 

limited enforcement responsibilities. Sworn employees are those with general arrest powers.

Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

Primary State 49 85,442 55,892 29,550 926 0 926

Local police 13,524 556,631 436,182 120,449 63,575 27,824 35,751

Sheriff 3,088 290,707 185,859 104,848 19,670 9,238 10,432

Total 16,661 932,780 677,933 254,847 84,171 37,062 47,109

Total Sworn Civilian Total Sworn Civilian

Number of Full-time Part-time

agencies

Type of 

agency

Number of employees

Table 1. Employment by general purpose State and local 

law enforcement agencies in the United States, 1999

1990 1993 1997 1999

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

Sworn

officers

Full-time employment by sheriffs' offices,

1990, 1993, 1997, and 1999

Number of full-time employees

Total
Nationwide, 408, or 13.2% of sheriffs'

offices, employed at least 100 sworn

personnel (table 2). This included 17

agencies with 1,000 or more officers.

An estimated 815, or 26.4% of all

agencies, employed fewer than 10

sworn personnel.

About a fifth of all full-time sheriffs’

deputies were employed by a agency 

with 1,000 or more officers, and about

two-thirds worked for one with at least

100 officers. Agencies with fewer than

10 sworn personnel accounted for

about 2% of all officers.

2 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

--Less than 0.05%.

Note: Sworn employees are those with general arrest powers. Detail may not 

add to total because of rounding. *Includes both full-time and part-time employees. 

0-1 21 0.6 20 -- 867 0.8

2-4 229 7.4 682 0.4 524 0.5

5-9 565 18.3 3,479 1.9 2,935 2.8

10-24 931 30.1 12,945 7.0 10,081 9.6

25-49 562 18.2 18,099 9.7 12,079 11.5

50-99 372 12.0 22,818 12.3 14,145 13.5

100-249 275 8.9 40,513 21.8 20,000 19.1

250-499 86 2.8 29,837 16.1 15,674 14.9

500-999 31 1.0 20,435 11.0 10,522 10.0

1,000 or more 17 0.6% 37,030 19.9% 18,021 17.2%

 Total 3,088 100% 185,859 100% 104,848 100%

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Full-time 

civilian personnel

Full-time 

 Agencies sworn personnel

Number

of sworn

personnel*

Table 2. Sheriffs' offices, by number of sworn and civilian personnel, 1999

Note: Sworn employees are those with general arrest powers.

--Less than 0.5%.

a

Includes all uniformed officers whose regularly assigned duties included responding to citizen calls for service.

b

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office serves as the local police department for the City of Jacksonville which is consolidated with

Duval County. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the result of a merger of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and

the Las Vegas Police Department in 1973, serves as the local police department for the City of Las Vegas. These two

agencies, although headed by sheriffs, are classified as local police departments in LEMAS for data analysis purposes. 

Suffolk Co. (MA) 817 0 0 0 98 0

Pinellas Co. (FL) 823 413 50 74 -- 21

Alameda Co. (CA) 829 61 7 26 50 18

Suffolk Co. (NY) 874 0 0 26 74 0

Salt Lake Co. (UT) 903 249 28% 46% 46% 5%

Orleans Parish (LA) 920 0 0 30 54 11

Palm Beach Co. (FL) 993 653 66 82 0 13

Hamilton Co. (OH) 1,075 202 19 28 56 8

Nassau Co. (NY) 1,114 0 0 5 93 0

Wayne Co. (MI) 1,127 142 13% 13% 69% 16%

Orange Co. (FL) 1,162 576 50 89 0 8

Riverside Co. (CA) 1,234 452 37 71 15 10

Bexar Co. (TX) 1,302 120 9 12 63 14

Sacramento Co. (CA) 1,339 446 33 49 32 9

San Bernardino Co. (CA) 1,341 498 37% 47% 50% 0%

Orange Co. (CA) 1,361 367 27 48 47 0

Jefferson Parish (LA) 1,449 440 30 51 17 4

Jacksonville - Duval Co. (FL) 1,502 906 60 96 0 3 b

Hillsborough Co. (FL) 1,889 694 37 49 40 6

Clark Co. (NV)b 1,998 984 49% 74% 20% 0%

San Diego Co. (CA) 1,999 655 33 45 53 0

Broward Co. (FL) 2,419 1,175 49 49 50 0

Harris Co. (TX) 2,648 653 25 35 55 6

Cook Co. (IL) 5,768 523 9 9 58 30

Los Angeles Co. (CA) 8,107 1,358 17% 51% 26% 18%

Number Percent

Court

operations

Jail

operations

Field

operations

 Percent of officers by area of duty

Officers responding to 

calls for servicea Full-time

 sworn County or equivalent personnel

Twenty-five largest sheriffs’ offices, by number and function of full-time sworn personnel, 1999
Although less than a sixth of sheriffs’

offices served 100,000 or more residents,

such agencies employed about

two-thirds of all sworn personnel (table

3). About a fifth of deputies were

employed in jurisdictions with 1 million

or more residents. 

The average size of sheriffs’ offices

ranged from about 2,000 full-time

employees in the largest jurisdictions to

11 in the smallest (table 4). By sworn

personnel, the average size ranged

from 1,300 in the largest jurisdictions to

6 in the smallest. 

More than a third (36%) of the full-time

sworn personnel in sheriffs’ offices had

regularly assigned duties that included

responding to calls for service (table 5).

By population category, the proportion

of officers responding to calls ranged

from less than 1 in 4 in agencies

serving 1 million or more residents, to

nearly 3 in 4 in those serving fewer

than 10,000 residents. 

About half of sworn personnel worked

in law enforcement field operations

(49%) (table 6). Officers working in the

field operations area, but not assigned

to respond to calls, often performed

supervisory or investigative duties. 

The next highest area of employment for

sworn personnel was in jail-related

positions (31.2%). Another 10% had

court-related duties such as serving

process or providing court security.

About 6% of sworn personnel primarily

performed administrative duties, and

4% worked in technical support

positions primarily related to communications, fleet management, crime

prevention, or training. 

Among nonsworn employees, the

largest percentage performed jailrelated duties (56.5%), followed by

technical support (28.4%). Other areas

of duty for civilian employees included

administration (6.9%), field operations

(3.9%), and court operations (2.8%). 

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 3

Note: Sworn employees are those with general arrest powers.

Detail may not add to total because of rounding. 

Under 10,000 709 23.0 4,590 2.5 2,980 2.8

10,000-24,999 892 28.9 14,885 8.0 7,771 7.4

25,000-49,999 606 19.6 19,304 10.4 9,922 9.5

50,000-99,999 389 12.6 23,191 12.5 10,843 10.3

100,000-249,999 293 9.5 37,286 20.1 17,866 17.0

250,000-499,999 107 3.4 25,016 13.5 15,393 14.7

500,000-999,999 63 2.0 24,022 12.9 18,290 17.4

1,000,000 or more 29 .9% 37,564 20.2% 21,783 20.8%

 All sizes 3,088 100% 185,859 100% 104,848 100%

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Full-time 

civilian personnel

Full-time 

Population Agencies sworn personnel

served

Table 3. Sheriffs' offices and full-time personnel, 

by size of population served, 1999

Note: Sworn employees are those with general arrest powers.

Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

--Less than 0.5.

Under 10,000 11 6 4 2 1 1

10,000-24,999 25 17 9 3 2 2

25,000-49,999 48 32 16 6 4 2

50,000-99,999 87 60 28 7 4 3

100,000-249,999 188 127 61 13 5 8

250,000-499,999 377 234 144 23 11 13

500,000-999,999 675 383 292 27 5 22

1,000,000 or more 2,017 1,276 740 30 11 19

 All sizes 94 60 34 6 3 3

Total Sworn Civilian Total Sworn Civilian

Population Full-time Part-time

served

Average number of employees

Table 4. Average number of employees in sheriffs' offices,

by size of population served, 1999

Note: Sworn employees are those with

general arrest powers. Percent calculations

based on agencies with 10 or more full-time

sworn or civilian employees. 

Other 0.3 1.4

Court operations 9.8 2.8

Jail operations 31.2 56.5

Technical support 3.7 28.4

Field operations 49.3 3.9

Administration 5.7% 6.9%

 Total 100% 100%

Sworn Civilian

 Percent of 

Job function full-time employees 

category

Table 6. Job function category 

of full-time employees in sheriffs'

offices, 1999

*Includes all uniformed officers whose

regularly assigned duties included 

responding to citizen calls for service.

Under 10,000 3,344 73

10,000-24,999 8,266 56

25,000-49,999 9,695 50

50,000-99,999 9,836 42

100,000-249,999 12,523 34

250,000-499,999 7,646 31

500,000-999,999 7,122 30

1,000,000 or more 8,064 21%

 All sizes 66,495 36%

Number Percent

Full-time sworn personnel

assigned to respond to

Population citizen calls for service*

served

Table 5. Officers assigned to respond

to citizen calls for service in sheriffs'

offices, by size of population served,

1999
As of June 30, 1999, sheriffs' offices

collectively employed about 98% of the

maximum number of sworn personnel

authorized by their budgets, and 96%

of their authorized civilian employee

strength (table 7). Actual-to-authorized

ratios for sworn personnel were highest

in jurisdictions with fewer than 10,000 

residents, and lowest in those with 1

million or more residents. For

nonsworn employees, agencies serving

fewer than 10,000 residents had the

highest ratio, and those serving 500,000

to 999,999 residents, the lowest.

Some sheriffs' offices partly offset

officer shortages through the use of

supplemental personnel such as sworn

reserve or auxiliary officers. As of June

30, 1999, 54% of agencies were using

reserve or auxiliary sworn officers, with

an average of 5 full-time and 14 parttime officers each (table 8). 

Some agencies utilized nonsworn

volunteers such as community service

officers or police service aides. As of

June 30, 1999, 8% were using community service officers or police service

aides, with an average of 7 full-time

and 17 part-time each. About a sixth of

agencies used other types of nonsworn

volunteers, with an average of 68 parttime volunteers each.

Nationwide, sheriffs' offices had an

estimated 8,847 full-time reserve

officers and 22,654 part-time reserve

officers (not shown in table). They also

had about 5,800 community service

officers and police service aides with

about 30% of these working full-time.

Agencies utilized an additional 36,000

nonsworn volunteers, with nearly all

working part-time. 

Operations

Stations and substations

As of June 30, 1999, sheriffs' offices

operated an estimated 1,639 district or

precinct stations and 1,915 neighborhood or community substations that

were separate from headquarters

(table 9). More than two-thirds of the

agencies serving 1 million or more

residents had district or precinct

stations, as did about half of those

serving 100,000 to 999,999 residents.

About a half of the sheriffs’ offices

serving a population of 100,000 or

more operated community substations.

Among agencies operating such facilities, the average number of district or

precinct stations ranged from 8 in jurisdictions with 1 million or more residents

to 1 in those with fewer than 25,000

residents. For substations, the average

number operated ranged from 8 in

jurisdictions with 1 million or more

residents to 2 in those with fewer than

25,000 residents. 

4 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

Note: Sworn employees are those with general arrest powers.

Under 10,000 4,454 103.1 2,955 100.8

10,000-24,999 15,013 99.1 7,887 98.5

25,000-49,999 19,227 100.4 10,048 98.7

50,000-99,999 23,531 98.6 11,060 98.0

100,000-249,999 37,935 98.3 18,577 96.2

250,000-499,999 25,559 97.9 15,962 96.4

500,000-999,999 24,672 97.4 19,661 93.0

1,000,000 or more 38,822 96.8% 22,795 95.6%

 All sizes 189,215 98.2% 108,946 96.2%

Percent 

Authorized employed

Percent 

Authorized employed

Population 

served

Sworn Civilian 

Full-time employees

Table 7. Authorized full-time strength of sheriffs' offices

and percent of authorized strength employed, by size 

of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 44 2 3 8 2 1

10,000-24,999 55 4 5 4 3 1

25,000-49,999 56 4 13 8 1 2

50,000-99,999 57 7 14 5 4 1

100,000-249,999 61 5 24 8 6 38

250,000-499,999 63 19 25 29 8 9

500,000-999,999 59 28 57 34 14 5

1,000,000 or more 74% 19 161 31% 80 289

 All sizes 54% 5 14 8% 7 17

ParttimeFulltimeParttimeFulltime

Average number

 Percent

 using

Average number

 Percent

 using

Population 

served

Community service officers

or police service aides

Reserve or auxiliary 

sworn officers

Table 8. Use of sworn reserve/auxiliary officers

and nonsworn community service officers/police service 

aides by sheriffs’ offices, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 16 119 1 9 95 2

10,000-24,999 22 251 1 11 195 2

25,000-49,999 25 272 2 19 294 3

50,000-99,999 27 163 2 27 268 3

100,000-249,999 45 368 3 49 497 3

250,000-499,999 48 166 3 53 254 4

500,000-999,999 54 130 4 42 179 7

1,000,000 or more 70% 168 8 55% 132 8

 All sizes 26% 1,639 2 20% 1,915 3

Total Average Total Average

 Percent Number

 operating

 Percent Number

 operating

District/precinct stations Community substations

 Agencies operating facilities separate from headquarters

Population

served

Table 9. Stations and substations operated by sheriffs’ offices,

by size of population served, 1999
Patrol and response

Nearly all (97%) sheriffs' offices used 

automobiles for routine patrol during

1999. By population category, the

percent with routine auto patrol ranged

from 99% of those serving fewer than

50,000 residents to about 80% of those

serving a population of 500,000 or

more (table 10). 

About a fifth of agencies used foot

(21%) or marine (19%) patrol units 

on a routine basis, including more than

a third of those serving a population 

of 1 million or more. Agencies with

routine foot patrol employed 30% 

of all sworn personnel, and those 

with routine marine patrol, 44%. 

Smaller percentages of agencies used

bicycle (9%), motorcycle (6%), or horse

(3%) patrol on a routine basis. Nearly

half of the agencies serving 250,000 or

more residents used routine bicycle

patrol, and about half of those serving

a population of 1 million or more used

motorcycle units on a routine basis.

Agencies using routine bicycle patrol

employed 32% of all sworn personnel,

those with motorcycle patrol, 35%, and

those with horse patrol, 10%.

From 1997 to 1999, the percent of

sheriffs’ offices using foot or bicycle

patrol on a routine basis increased in

all population categories. In jurisdictions with 500,000 or more residents,

the increase was from 41% to 55%; in

those with 100,000 to 499,999 residents;

from 22% to 34%; in those with 25,000

to 99,999 residents, from 18% to 24%;

and in those with fewer than 25,000

residents, from 19% to 23%.

Thirty-eight percent of agencies used

foot patrol for special events only.

Horse (14%) and marine (9%) units

were the next most likely to be used

exclusively during special events,

followed by bicycle (6%), motorcycle

(4%), and automobile (1%) units.

Dispatch

More than two-thirds (70%) of sheriffs'

offices had primary responsibility for

dispatching citizen calls for service

(table 11). These agencies employed

71% of all sworn personnel. A majority

of the agencies in each population

category performed dispatch services,

including about three-fourths of those

serving fewer than 25,000 residents.

 

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 5

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Percent of agencies

Percent of sheriffs' offices using foot or bicycle patrol units

1999

1997

on a routine basis, by size of population served, 1997 and 1999

Population serv ed

500,000 or more

Under 25,000

100,000 - 499,999

25,000 - 99,999

Figure 2

Under 10,000 99 28 9 3 2 1

10,000-24,999 99 18 11 1 1 2

25,000-49,999 99 18 20 8 4 3

50,000-99,999 95 18 31 14 9 3

100,000-249,999 98 22 36 20 11 4

250,000-499,999 84 23 37 41 27 9

500,000-999,999 79 27 29 44 32 8

1,000,000 or more 82% 35% 42% 48% 49% 21%

 All sizes 97% 21% 19% 9% 6% 3%

Horse

 MotorFoot Marine Bicycle cycleAuto-

 mobile

 Percent of agencies using each 

 type of patrol on a routine basis 

Population

served

Table 10. Types of patrol used on a routine basis by sheriffs' 

offices, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 77

10,000-24,999 74

25,000-49,999 69

50,000-99,999 58

100,000-249,999 61

250,000-499,999 59

500,000-999,999 56

1,000,000 or more 63%

 All sizes 70%

Percent of agencies

dispatching calls 

for service

Population

served

Table 11. Dispatch functions 

of sheriffs' offices, by size

of population served, 1999
9-1-1 emergency telephone system

In 1999, 88% of sheriffs' offices, employing 90% of all sworn personnel, participated in an emergency telephone

system whereby one of their units could

be dispatched as a result of a call to

9-1-1 or its equivalent (table 12). More

than 90% of the agencies serving a

population of 25,000 to 249,999

residents more were 9-1-1 participants.

Three-fourths of sheriffs’ office 9-1-1

systems were enhanced, capable of

pinpointing the location of a caller

automatically. More than 60% of the

agencies in each population category 

of 10,000 or more had enhanced 9-1-1.

From 1990 to 1999 the percentage of 

sheriffs’ offices with 9-1-1 more than

doubled, from 42% to 88% (figure 3).

During this time, the percentage of

agencies with enhanced 9-1-1 system

increased from 11% to 65%. From

1997 to 1999 alone, the proportion of

sheriffs’ offices with enhanced 9-1-1

increased from about half to about

two-thirds.

In 1999, 79% of sheriffs’ deputies were

employed by an agency with enhanced

9-1-1 compared to 36% in 1990.

Crime investigation

Overall, 92% of sheriffs' offices conducted

investigations of at least some types of

crimes. Eighty-nine percent had investigative responsibility for violent crimes

such as rape, robbery, or assault (table

13). This included more than 90% of

those serving a population of 10,000 to

99,999. Eighty-six percent of agencies

handled homicide investigations,

including about 9 in 10 agencies

serving 10,000 to 99,999 residents. 

Ninety percent of sheriffs’ offices were

responsible for investigating property

crimes such as burglary, larceny, or

motor vehicle theft. More than 90% 

of agencies serving 10,000 to 99,999

residents handled such investigations. 

Seventy-two percent of all agencies

were responsible for arson investigations, with those serving 25,000 to

99,999 residents (78%) the most likely

to handle such crimes. 

Forty percent of agencies were responsible for investigating environmental

crimes. No more than 44% of the

agencies in any population category

handled such investigations.

Forty-two percent of agencies had

primary responsibility for computerrelated crime investigations. This

included a majority of those serving a

population of 50,000 or more.

6 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

Note: Participation is defined as the ability to

dispatch a unit as a result of a call to 9-1-1. 

Detail may not add to total because of

rounding.

Under 10,000 80 41 39

10,000-24,999 87 62 26

25,000-49,999 92 79 12

50,000-99,999 97 80 16

100,000-249,999 92 83 9

250,000-499,999 84 74 10

500,000-999,999 72 65 7

1,000,000 or more 70% 66% 4%

 All sizes 88% 65% 22%

Total Enhanced Basic

Percent of agencies 

participating in 

Population 9-1-1 system

served

Table 12. Participation in a 9-1-1

emergency telephone system by 

sheriffs' offices, by size of population

served, 1999

b

Includes burglary, larceny/theft, and motor vehicle theft.

a

Includes rape, robbery, and assault.

Under 10,000 81 84 71 87 44 36

10,000-24,999 92 94 69 95 41 36

25,000-49,999 92 95 78 94 44 44

50,000-99,999 90 93 78 92 36 52

100,000-249,999 80 85 75 86 33 54

250,000-499,999 68 69 55 72 29 52

500,000-999,999 61 61 49 63 39 52

1,000,000 or more 66% 70% 45% 74% 41% 55%

 All sizes 86% 89% 72% 90% 40% 42%

 Otherb Other Arson a Homicide

Computer

crimes

Environmental

crimes

Population Violent crimes Property crimes

served

Percent of agencies with primary responsibility for investigating:

Table 13. Crime investigation functions of sheriffs’ offices,

by size of population served, 1999

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Sheriffs' offices participating in a 9-1-1 emergency

telephone system, 1990, 1993, 1997, and 1999

Any 9-1-1 system Enhanced 9-1-1

1990

1993

1997

Percent of agencies

1999

Figure 3
Investigative support functions

About 3 in 8 sheriffs' offices were

responsible for fingerprint processing

(table 14). This included more than

half of the agencies serving a population of 100,000 or more.

About 1 in 10 agencies provided crime

lab services, ranging from 38% of

those serving 1 million or more

residents, to about 5% of those 

serving fewer than 50,000 residents.

 

Just 4% of sheriffs’ offices had ballistics

testing responsibilities, although nearly 

a third of those serving a population 

of 1 million or more did. 

Court-related functions

Nearly all sheriffs’ offices had responsibility for executing arrest warrants

(98%), serving civil process (98%), and

providing court security (94%) (table

15). Agencies serving a population 

of 1 million or more were somewhat

less likely to handle these duties than

agencies in other jurisdictions.

Sheriffs’ offices responsible for executing arrest warrants employed 94% of

all sworn personnel, those serving civil

process, 93%, and those providing

court security, 92%.

Detention facilities

An estimated 78% of sheriffs' offices,

employing 88% of all sworn personnel,

operated at least one jail during 1999

(table 16). At least 64% of the

agencies in each population category

operated a jail, including 85% of those

serving a population of 25,000 to

99,999. 

As of June 1999, there were approximately 606,000 inmates in local jails.

Most of these inmates were in jails

operated by sheriffs, and sheriffs’

offices had an estimated 112,000 fulltime employees assigned to jail-related

duties. About half of these employees

were sworn personnel and half civilian

employees. 

Nineteen percent of sheriffs' offices,

employing 34% of all sworn personnel,

operated a temporary holding (lockup)

facility for overnight detention that was

separate from a jail. The percentage 

of agencies with a temporary lockup

was highest in jurisdictions with a

population of 1 million or more (47%).

Agencies in the largest jurisdictions

were also the most likely (64%) to have

temporary holding cells not used for

overnight detention. Less than half 

of the agencies in each of the other

population categories had them.

Overall, 31% of agencies, employing

49% of all officers, had this type of

holding cell.

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 7

Under 10,000 99 95 98

10,000-24,999 99 94 98

25,000-49,999 99 93 100

50,000-99,999 98 95 97

100,000-249,999 93 92 98

250,000-499,999 96 95 99

500,000-999,999 95 93 89

1,000,000 or more 82% 75% 76%

 All sizes 98% 94% 98%

Serve 

civil 

process

Provide

court 

security

Execute

arrest

warrants

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with 

primary responsibility to:

Table 15. Court-related functions of sheriffs' offices,

by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 31 4 3

10,000-24,999 29 6 2

25,000-49,999 36 4 2

50,000-99,999 41 11 4

100,000-249,999 51 20 7

250,000-499,999 63 34 18

500,000-999,999 59 24 15

1,000,000 or more 66% 38% 31%

 All sizes 37% 9% 4%

 Ballistics 

 testing

 Crime lab

 services

 Fingerprint

 processing

Population

served

Percent of agencies with primary responsibility for:

Table 14. Investigative support functions of sheriffs’ offices,

by size of population served, 1999

a

Temporary holding facility for overnight detention 

that is separate from a jail.

b

Not for overnight detention.

Under 10,000 64 18 25

10,000-24,999 82 19 35

25,000-49,999 85 17 23

50,000-99,999 85 24 36

100,000-249,999 77 17 35

250,000-499,999 75 19 40

500,000-999,999 65 26 45

1,000,000 or more 81% 47% 64%

 All sizes 78% 19% 31%

 Holding 

 cellb Lockupa Jail

Population 

served

Percent of agencies operating:

Table 16. Detention facilities of sheriffs’ offices,

by size of population served, 1999
Traffic and vehicle-related functions

About 8 in 10 sheriffs' offices were

responsible for enforcing traffic laws, 

7 in 10 for investigating traffic

accidents, and 6 in 10 for traffic direction and control (table 17). Agencies

serving fewer than 250,000 residents

were the most likely to have traffic and

vehicle-related enforcement duties. 

About a third of sheriffs’ offices had

parking enforcement duties, including

about half of those serving a population

of 1 million or more. A fifth of agencies

had responsibilities related to school

crossing services, and a similar proportion handled commercial vehicle

enforcement. 

Special operations functions

Just over half (56%) of sheriffs’ offices, 

employing about two-thirds (66%) of all

sworn personnel, had responsibility 

for search and rescue operations (table

18). At least 47% of the agencies 

in each population category handled

this function.

Thirty-eight percent of sheriffs' offices

performed tactical operations, commonly

associated with SWAT (Special

Weapons and Tactics) teams. These

agencies employed 67% of all sheriffs’

officers. A majority of the agencies in

each population category of agencies

serving 50,000 or more residents, and

half of those serving 25,000 to 49,999,

were responsible for tactical operations.

An estimated 28% of all agencies,

employing 50% of all sworn personnel,

were responsible for underwater recovery operations. This included nearly

half of the agencies serving 100,000 

or more residents. 

Bomb disposal was handled by 8% of

sheriffs’ offices, employing 36% of all

sworn personnel. More than 1/3 of the

agencies serving 250,000 or more

residents handled this function

compared to less than 1/10 of those

serving fewer than 100,000 residents.

Special public safety functions

About a third of sheriffs’ offices were

responsible for animal control services

(table 19). This included nearly half 

of those serving fewer than 10,000

residents. Agencies handling animal

control employed 20% of all sworn

personnel.

Other special public safety functions

handled by sheriffs' offices included civil

defense (23%), emergency medical

services (13%), and fire services (10%).

Agencies performing civil defense

functions employed 15% of all officers,

those handling emergency medical

services, 11%, and those providing 

fire services, 4%.

8 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

Under 10,000 89 84 63 46 26 30

10,000-24,999 75 68 57 28 16 13

25,000-49,999 85 75 58 31 16 21

50,000-99,999 85 70 57 31 23 22

100,000-249,999 77 61 62 32 20 17

250,000-499,999 69 57 50 42 24 22

500,000-999,999 67 54 46 44 16 26

1,000,000 or more 67% 56% 49% 53% 10% 42%

 All sizes 81% 72% 58% 34% 20% 21%

Commercial

vehicle

enforcement

 School 

 crossing 

 services

 Parking

 enforce-

 ment

 Traffic 

 direction

and control

 Accident 

 investi-

 gation

Enforcement of

traffic laws

Population 

served

 Percent of agencies with primary responsibility for:

Table 17. Traffic and vehicle-related functions of sheriffs’ offices,

by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 5 56 19 13

10,000-24,999 2 55 25 21

25,000-49,999 3 56 50 34

50,000-99,999 8 58 52 38

100,000-249,999 23 58 57 44

250,000-499,999 34 64 65 42

500,000-999,999 40 47 74 46

1,000,000 or more 45% 56% 67% 49%

 All sizes 8% 56% 38% 28%

Underwater 

recovery

Tactical

operations

(SWAT)

Search 

and 

rescue

 

Bomb

disposal

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with 

primary responsibility for:

Table 18. Special operations functions of sheriffs’

offices, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 47 37 24 23

10,000-24,999 33 18 12 10

25,000-49,999 32 16 11 8

50,000-99,999 32 24 8 1

100,000-249,999 25 18 4 2

250,000-499,999 23 15 11 3

500,000-999,999 10 13 5 0

1,000,000 or more 11% 11% 7% 0%

 All sizes 34% 23% 13% 10%

Fire 

services

 Emergency

 medical 

 services

Civil

defense

 Animal

 control

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with 

primary responsibility for:

Table 19. Special public safety functions of sheriffs’

offices, by size of population served, 1999
Community policing

Community policing is a philosophy that

promotes and supports organizational

strategies to address the causes of

crime and to reduce the fear of crime

and social disorder. These strategies

use problem-solving techniques and

community partnerships. A fundamental shift from traditional reactive

policing, community policing stresses

the prevention of crime. Community

policing supports and empowers frontline officers, decentralizes command,

and encourages innovative problem

solving. (See Community Policing in

Local Police Departments, 1997 and

1999, BJS Special Report, February

2001, NCJ 184794.)

In 1999, 12% of sheriffs' offices,

employing 33% of all sworn personnel, 

had a formal, written community policing plan (table 20). The percentage 

of agencies with a formal, written plan

was highest among those serving

250,000 or more residents. Just 5% 

of the sheriffs’ offices serving fewer

than 10,000 residents, typically the

most rural jurisdictions, had a formal,

written community policing plan. 

In jurisdictions with 500,000 residents

or more, about as many sheriffs’

offices had a formal, written plan as

had no plan at all (figure 4). In all

population categories, a majority of

sheriffs' offices had either a formal, 

written community policing plan or an

informal, unwritten plan. Overall, 75%

of all sworn personnel worked for an

agency with some type of community

policing plan.

Community policing training

During the 2-year period ending June

30, 1999, 54% of sheriffs' offices,

employing 68% of all sworn personnel,

trained at least some of their new

officer recruits in community policing

skills such as problem-solving and

developing community partnerships

(table 21). 

Thirty-six percent of agencies, employing 51% of all sworn personnel, trained

all new recruits in community policing.

More than half of the sheriffs’ offices

serving 250,000 or more residents

trained all recruits, compared to about

a fourth of those serving a population

of less than 10,000.

Sixty-one percent of agencies, employing 72% of all sworn personnel, trained

at least some in-service officers during

the 2-year period. Eighteen percent 

of agencies, employing 19% of all

sworn personnel, trained all in-service

officers in community policing.

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 9

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

Under 10,000 52 5 47

10,000-24,999 62 10 52

25,000-49,999 68 13 55

50,000-99,999 65 19 47

100,000-249,999 69 13 56

250,000-499,999 63 41 22

500,000-999,999 68 26 42

1,000,000 or more 70% 38% 32%

 All sizes 62% 12% 50%

 Informal,

 unwritten

 Formal,

Total written 

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with 

a community policing plan

Table 20. Sheriffs' offices with a community

policing plan, by size of population served, 1999

 Figure 4

Under 25,000

25,000 - 99,999

100,000 - 499,999

500,000 or more

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Community policing plans of sheriffs' offices, 1999

Population served

Percent of agencies

Formal, written

Informal, unwritten

None

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. 

*Eight or more hours during the 2-year period ending June 30, 1999.

Under 10,000 37 24 13 50 20 30

10,000-24,999 53 37 16 60 18 42

25,000-49,999 62 38 24 67 19 48

50,000-99,999 60 38 22 69 14 55

100,000-249,999 69 47 22 64 14 50

250,000-499,999 70 55 14 68 23 46

500,000-999,999 63 54 8 60 16 44

1,000,000 or more 63% 56% 7% 66% 28% 38%

 All sizes 54% 36% 18% 61% 18% 43%

Total All Some Total All Some

New officer recruits In-service sworn personnel

Percent of agencies with community policing training* 

Population 

served

Table 21. Community policing training for new officer recruits and in-service

officers in sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999
Community policing personnel

Overall, 60% of sheriffs' offices, employing 73% of all sworn personnel, had fulltime deputies serving as community

policing officers, community resource

officers, community relations officers, or

otherwise regularly engaged in community policing activities (table 22). As of

June 30, 1999, an estimated 15,443, or

8%, of all sworn personnel served in

this capacity.

The proportion of sheriffs’ offices with

full-time community policing officers

ranged from nearly three-fourths of

those serving 500,000 or more

residents, to just over half of those

serving a population of less than

10,000. Among agencies using them,

the average number of community

policing officers ranged from 137 in

jurisdictions with 1 million or more

residents, to 4 in those with a population of less than 25,000.

In jurisdictions with fewer than 10,000

residents, 30% of full-time sworn

personnel were designated as community policing officers, twice as many as

in the next highest category (figure 5).

Less than 10% of the officers in each

population category of 50,000 or more

were so designated.

Thirty-eight percent of sheriffs' offices,

employing 60% of all sworn personnel,

had full-time school resource officers

during 1999 (table 23). A majority of

the agencies serving 100,000 or more

residents had school resource officers,

as did about two-fifths of those serving

a population of 10,000 to 99,999. 

These officers use a community policing approach to provide a safe environment for students and staff. In addition

to handling calls for service within the

school, they work closely with school

administrators and staff to prevent

crime and disorder by monitoring crime

trends, problem areas, cultural

conflicts, and other areas of concern. 

As of June 30, 1999, sheriffs' offices

had an estimated 3,447 full-time sworn

personnel assigned as school resource

officers. Among agencies using them,

the average number of school resource

officers ranged from 9 in agencies

serving a population of 1 million or

more, to 2 in those serving fewer than

50,000 residents.

10 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

*Excludes agencies that did not employ any 

full-time sworn community policing officers.

Under 10,000 55 1,388 4

10,000-24,999 60 2,306 4

25,000-49,999 62 1,912 5

50,000-99,999 57 1,558 7

100,000-249,999 65 2,371 12

250,000-499,999 69 1,915 26

500,000-999,999 72 990 22

1,000,000 or more 74% 3,004 137

 All sizes 60% 15,443 8

Average

number 

of officers* 

Total 

number 

of officers

Percent of

agencies

using

Population 

served

Full-time community policing officers

Table 22. Community policing officers in sheriffs’

offices, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000

10,000 - 24,999

25,000 - 49,999

50,000 - 99,999

100,000 - 249,999

250,000 - 499,999

500,000 - 999,999

1,000,000 or more

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Percent of sworn personnel in sheriffs' offices designated as

community policing officers, by size of population served, 1999

Population served

Percent of full-time officers

 Figure 5

*Excludes agencies that did not employ any 

full-time sworn school resource officers.

Under 10,000 23 292 2

10,000-24,999 38 642 2

25,000-49,999 38 471 2

50,000-99,999 43 524 3

100,000-249,999 53 676 4

250,000-499,999 52 403 7

500,000-999,999 51 254 8

1,000,000 or more 67% 184 9

 All sizes 38% 3,447 3

Average

number 

of officers* 

Total 

number 

of officers

Percent of

agencies

using

Population

served

Full-time school resource officers

Table 23. School resource officers in sheriffs’ offices,

by size of population served, 1999
Community-oriented policies 

and programs

Fifty-six percent of sheriffs' offices,

employing 73% of all sworn personnel,

gave patrol officers responsibility for

specific geographic areas or beats

during 1999 (table 24). This included

about two-thirds of the agencies

serving a population of 25,000 or more.

Seventeen percent of agencies,

employing 48% of all sworn personnel,

assigned cases to investigators by

geographic area. This included about

half of those serving a population of 

1 million or more, and about two-fifths

of those serving a population of

250,000 to 999,999.

Twenty-two percent of sheriffs’ offices,

employing 41% of all sworn personnel,

actively encouraged patrol officers to

become involved in problem-solving

projects. More than two-fifths of the

agencies serving a population of

250,000 or more had such a policy.

Fifteen percent of agencies, employing

27% of all sworn personnel, included

problem-solving projects in the

performance evaluation criteria for

patrol officers. This included about a

fourth of the agencies serving a

population of 250,000 or more. 

During the 2-year period ending June

30, 1999, 25% of sheriffs' offices,

employing 45% of all sworn personnel,

formed partnerships with community

groups, local agencies, or others

through written agreements (table 25).

This included about half of the agencies

serving a population of 1 million or

more, and about two-fifths of those 

serving 100,000 to 999,999 residents. 

Twenty-six percent of agencies,

employing 48% of all sworn personnel,

offered training to citizens on community policing topics such as community

mobilization and problem-solving.

About half of those serving 1 million or

more residents offered such training,

as did more than two-fifths of those

serving 100,000 or 999,999 residents. 

Eighty-six percent of agencies, employing 94% of all officers, regularly met

with community groups during the

2-year period ending June 30, 1999.

The percent of agencies holding

regular meetings ranged from 77% 

of those serving fewer than 10,000

residents to 93% of those serving

50,000 to 99,999 residents.

 

An estimated 84% of sworn personnel

worked for a sheriffs’ office that regularly

met with school groups and 75% for

one that met with neighborhood

associations (figure 6). The percentages for other types of groups were: 

senior citizen (67%), domestic violence

(66%), business (63%), youth service

(53%), religious (51%), and tenant (39%).

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 11

a

During 1-year period ending June 30, 1999.

b

During 2-year period ending June 30, 1999.

Under 10,000 77 19 14

10,000-24,999 86 20 22

25,000-49,999 90 29 29

50,000-99,999 93 26 32

100,000-249,999 88 38 43

250,000-499,999 90 40 44

500,000-999,999 88 42 41

1,000,000 or more 88% 49% 52%

 All sizes 86% 25% 26%

 Citizen

 trainingb

 Problem-

 solving

 partnershipb

 Community 

 group

 meetingsa

Population

served

 Percent of agencies engaging 

 in community policing activities

Table 25. Community policing activities of sheriffs'

offices, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 38 7 17 9

10,000-24,999 53 12 21 14

25,000-49,999 61 16 20 18

50,000-99,999 69 24 21 17

100,000-249,999 71 34 30 20

250,000-499,999 62 41 46 23

500,000-999,999 63 42 40 28

1,000,000 or more 64% 52% 45% 21%

 All sizes 56% 17% 22% 15%

 Included in

 evaluation

 Actively 

Investigators encouraged

 Patrol 

 officers

Population

served

Patrol officer 

Geographic assignments problem-solving projects

Table 24. Community-oriented policies for sworn personnel 

in sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999

Religious

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of officers employed

Percent of sworn personnel employed by a sheriff's office

that met regularly with citizen groups to discuss crimerelated problems, 1999

Business

Senior citizen

Domestic v iolence

Youth serv ice

Ty pe of group

School

Neighborhood

Tenant

Figure 6
Citizen surveys

Twenty-two percent of sheriffs' offices,

employing 39% of all sworn personnel,

surveyed citizens in their jurisdiction

during the year ending June 30, 1999

(table 26). This included about

two-fifths of the agencies serving 

a population of 250,000 or more.

Eighteen percent of agencies, employing 35% of sworn personnel, surveyed

citizens’ about their satisfaction with the

services provided by the sheriffs’ office.

Fifteen percent of agencies, employing

29% of all sworn personnel, surveyed

citizens regarding their perception of

crime problems. Seven percent of

agencies, employing 15% of sworn

personnel, surveyed citizens about 

their personal crime experiences.

A majority of the agencies conducting

surveys used the data to provide information to patrol officers (72%), evaluate program effectiveness (59%), or

prioritize crime-related problems (57%)

(figure 7). About half used the information for allocating resources to targeted

areas (50%), training officers (48%), 

or formulating policy and procedures

(44%). A fifth used it to redistrict beats

or reporting areas.

Citizen access to crime statistics

Seventy-five percent of sheriffs' offices,

employing 84% of all sworn personnel,

provided citizens with routine access 

to crime statistics or crime maps (table

27). This included more than 80% 

of the agencies serving a population 

of 25,000 to 249,999.

Agencies were most likely to provide

access to statistics at the county or city

level (69% of agencies employing 77%

of all officers). An estimated 15% of

agencies, employing 27% of all sworn

personnel, provided access to statistics

by neighborhood. Smaller percentages

made crime statistics available at the

level of patrol beat (9%), district or

precinct (9%), or street or block (7%).

12 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Percent of surveying agencies 

Purposes for which sheriffs' offices used information collected

in citizen surveys, 1999

Redistricting beats/reporting areas

Prov iding inf ormation to of f icers

Ev aluating program ef f ectiv eness

Prioritizing crime/disorder problems

Formulating policy /procedures

Allocating resources to neighborhoods

Of f icer training

Agency uses of surv ey inf ormation

Note: Neighborhood category includes apartment complexes. Other 

levels of statistics not included in table were available in some jurisdictions.

Under 10,000 67 63 8 4 6 3

10,000-24,999 71 67 13 6 6 3

25,000-49,999 84 77 17 8 7 6

50,000-99,999 80 70 18 11 14 11

100,000-249,999 84 78 24 17 16 14

250,000-499,999 78 72 25 24 30 26

500,000-999,999 65 55 30 26 21 21

1,000,000 or more 65% 54% 25% 32% 26% 21%

 All sizes 75% 69% 15% 9% 9% 7%

 Street 

 or block

 District or 

 precinct

 Patrol 

 beat

 Neighbor-

 hood

 County 

 or city

 Any

 level

Population

served

 Percent of agencies providing citizens with 

 routine access to crime statistics or crime maps by:

Table 27. Sheriffs' offices providing citizens with routine access to crime

statistics or crime maps, by size of population served, 1999

 Figure 7

Under 10,000 15 8 12 5

10,000-24,999 21 17 11 4

25,000-49,999 25 19 16 8

50,000-99,999 19 15 11 7

100,000-249,999 34 31 26 10

250,000-499,999 41 39 30 23

500,000-999,999 41 38 34 23

1,000,000 or more 40% 28% 29% 18%

 All sizes 22% 18% 15% 7%

 Personal 

 crime

 experiences

 Perceptions 

 of crime

 problems

 Satisfaction

 with 

 services

Any 

topic

 Percent of agencies that surveyed citizens during

 12-month period ending June 30, 1999 regarding:

Population

served

Table 26. Surveying of citizens by sheriffs' offices,

by size of population served, 1999
Eighty-six percent of the sheriffs’

offices that provided citizens with

routine access to crime statistics or

crime maps made them available to

those who inquired in person (figure 8).

A majority also provided statistics in

response to requests made by

telephone (60%) or in writing (57%). 

More than two-fifths of agencies

routinely published crime statistics in

newspapers (49%) or agency reports

(41%). Other methods of access

included radio (24%), fax (20%), television (16%), the Internet (9%), and

newsletter (8%).

Computers and information systems

Administrative functions

Nearly all sheriffs' offices used computers for administrative purposes during

1999 (table 28). Just 1% of sworn

personnel were employed by an

agency not using computers. 

An estimated 87% of agencies,

employing 97% of all sworn personnel,

used personal computers (PC’s) in

1999. This was an increase over 1997

when 76% of agencies, employing 93%

of officers, used them. In 1999 at least

94% of the agencies in each population

category of 25,000 or more used PC’s. 

Forty-one percent of agencies, employing 55% of all sworn personnel, used

mainframe computers during 1999.

This included a majority of agencies

serving a population of 50,000 or more.

In 1997, 59% of sheriffs’ offices,

employing 81% of all sworn personnel,

were using mainframes.

 

Sheriffs' offices stored various types of

administrative records in computer files

during 1999. Just over half had

computerized personnel (54%) and

inventory (53%) records (table 29).

More than 4 in 5 agencies serving a

population of 250,000 or more had

computerized personnel files, and

about 4 in 5 agencies serving 500,000

or more residents had computerized

inventory records. Agencies with

computerized personnel records

employed 82% of all sworn personnel,

and those with computerized inventory

records, 77%.

Thirty-eight percent of sheriffs’ offices,

employing 74% of all sworn personnel,

had computerized payroll records. This

included a majority of agencies serving

50,000 or more residents and about

four-fifths of those serving a population

of 250,000 or more. 

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 13

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of statistics-providing agencies

Methods for accessing crime statistics provided

to citizens by sheriffs' offices, 1999

Method of access prov ided

Radio

Written request

Newspaper

Agency report

Telev ision

Newsletter

Fax

In-person

Telephone

Internet

 Figure 8

Under 10,000 91 79 26 6 34

10,000-24,999 93 80 34 13 52

25,000-49,999 98 94 49 11 69

50,000-99,999 100 94 57 30 72

100,000-249,999 100 96 51 27 78

250,000-499,999 99 99 56 34 80

500,000-999,999 98 100 67 47 87

1,000,000 or more 96% 96% 67% 38% 89%

 All sizes 95% 87% 41% 16% 58%

 Mini Server

MainPersonal frameAny 

type

Population

served

Percent of agencies using each type of computer:

Table 28. Selected types of computers used by sheriffs' offices

for administrative functions, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 41 17 31

10,000-24,999 45 27 48

25,000-49,999 51 38 59

50,000-99,999 64 54 75

100,000-249,999 76 64 69

250,000-499,999 66 84 83

500,000-999,999 79 79 81

1,000,000 or more 81% 85% 89%

 All sizes 53% 38% 54%

served Inventory Payroll Personnel

 Percent of agencies with 

Population computerized files on:

Table 29. Administrative records stored in a computerized format 

by sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999
Computer-aided dispatch

Among the estimated 2,146 sheriffs'

offices with responsibility for dispatching calls for service during 1999 (see

table 11), about 52% used computeraided dispatch systems (table 30).

This included about 9 in 10 agencies

serving a population of 500,000 or

more, about 8 in 10 agencies serving a

population of 100,000 to 499,999, and

about 6 in 10 serving 25,000 to 99,999

residents.

The percentage of sheriffs’ office

dispatch systems that were computerized increased significantly from 1990

to 1999. For example, among those 

agencies that performed dispatch

functions and served 500,000 or more

residents, the percent with computeraided dispatch rose from 51% to 89%

(figure 9).

Among agencies serving 100,000 to

499,999 residents, the percentage with

computerized dispatch increased from

40% in 1990 to 79% in 1999; among

those serving 25,000 to 99,999 residents,

from 23% to 61%; and in jurisdictions

with a population of less than 25,000,

the percentage of dispatch systems

that were computerized increased from

9% to 40%. 

Offender and suspect records

Seventy-eight percent of sheriffs'

offices had computerized arrest and

warrant records in 1999 (table 31).

About 9 in 10 agencies serving a

population of 25,000 to 499,999 had

computerized arrest records, and about

9 in 10 serving a population of 25,000

to 999,999 had computerized warrant

files.

Sixty percent of sheriffs’ offices had

computerized criminal history information, and 49% had computerized

summons records. About 4 in 5

agencies serving a population of

100,000 or more had computerized

criminal history files. About two-thirds

of those serving 50,000 to 249,999

residents had computerized summons

information.

From 1990 to 1999 the percentage of

sheriffs’ offices with computerized information on arrests, criminal histories,

warrants, and summonses increased

substantially. Accordingly, the percentage of sworn personnel employed by

an agency storing these types of

records in a computerized format also

increased.

14 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

Note: Table excludes agencies not 

responsible for providing dispatch services.

Under 10,000 32

10,000-24,999 46

25,000-49,999 62

50,000-99,999 61

100,000-249,999 80

250,000-499,999 77

500,000-999,999 87

1,000,000 or more 93%

All sizes 52%

Percent of 

agencies

Population 

served

Table 30. Sheriffs' offices using

computer-aided dispatch, by size 

of population of served, 1999

Figure 9

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of agencies

Percent of sheriffs' office dispatch systems that were computerized,

by size of population served, 1990 and 1999

Population serv ed

100,000 - 499,999

Under 25,000

500,000 or more

25,000 - 99,999

1999

1990

Under 10,000 57 39 28 59

10,000-24,999 76 58 45 74

25,000-49,999 92 68 59 84

50,000-99,999 92 64 68 96

100,000-249,999 88 79 68 88

250,000-499,999 85 80 55 98

500,000-999,999 79 79 56 91

1,000,000 or more 77% 76% 29% 77%

 All sizes 78% 60% 49% 78%

Summonses Warrants

Criminal

 Arrests histories

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with computerized files on:

Table 31. Offender and suspect records stored in a computerized 

format by sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999
The percentage of officers employed

by an agency with computerized arrest

records increased from 70% in 1990 to

91% in 1999 (figure 10). Similar

increases in the use of computerized

files were observed for information

pertaining to warrants (from 75% in

1990 to 91% in 1999), criminal histories

(from 67% to 81%), and summonses

(from 48% to 60%). 

Investigations

More than half (54%) of sheriffs’ offices

used computers for criminal investigation purposes other than word

processing during 1999 (table 32). 

This included at least 65% of the

agencies in each population category

of 25,000 or more.

Agencies using computers for criminal

investigation purposes employed 77%

of all sworn personnel in 1999. In

1990, 35% of agencies, employing

66% of all sworn personnel, were using

computers for criminal investigations.

Most sheriffs’ offices maintained

various types of computerized information related to the investigative

process. For example, 77% of them,

employing 87% of all sworn personnel,

had computer files pertaining to

incident reports (table 33). This

included nearly 9 in 10 serving 25,000

to 249,999 residents.

Sixty-nine percent of agencies, employing 68% of all sworn personnel, stored

incident report narratives in a computerized format. This included more than

three-fourths of the agencies serving a

population of 25,000 to 99,999.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of agencies

had computerized information on

stolen property other than vehicles.

This included about three-fourths of the

agencies serving a population of

25,000 to 249,999. Agencies with

computer files on stolen property

employed 79% of all sworn personnel. 

About half (49%) of agencies, employing nearly three-fourths (72%) of all

sworn personnel, had computer files

containing evidence information. This

included a majority of those serving

25,000 or more residents, and about

two-thirds of those serving 50,000 

to 499,999 residents. 

About a third (35%) of agencies,

employing just over half (54%) of all

sworn personnel, had computer files

containing field interview information.

This included about a half of the

sheriffs’ offices serving a population 

of 50,000 or more. 

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 15

1999

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of officers employed

Percent of sworn personnel employed by a sheriffs' office with

computerized offender and suspect information, 1990 and 1999

Ty pe of inf ormation

Criminal histories

Warrants

Arrests

Summonses

1999

1990

Figure 10

Under 10,000 36

10,000-24,999 45

25,000-49,999 66

50,000-99,999 65

100,000-249,999 71

250,000-499,999 82

500,000-999,999 67

1,000,000 or more 80%

 All sizes 54%

Percent of

agencies

Population 

served

Table 32. Sheriffs' offices using

computers for criminal investigations,

by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 30 25 63 60 47

10,000-24,999 42 31 73 68 65

25,000-49,999 53 33 85 76 76

50,000-99,999 67 49 90 78 73

100,000-249,999 68 48 87 66 72

250,000-499,999 72 51 79 68 65

500,000-999,999 55 46 76 60 59

1,000,000 or more 53% 50% 62% 47% 58%

 All sizes 49% 35% 77% 69% 64%

 Stolen

 property

Incident

report 

narratives

 Incident

 reports

Field 

 Evidence interviews

Population 

served

 Percent of agencies with computerized files on:

Table 33. Investigative records stored in a computerized format 

by sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999
Traffic and vehicle-related records

In 1999 an estimated 59% of sheriffs'

offices had computer files containing

information on stolen vehicles (table

34). This included 70% of those

serving a population of 25,000 to

99,999. Agencies with such information employed 74% of all sworn

personnel.

Nearly half of all agencies had computerized information on traffic citations

(47%), including a majority of those

serving 25,000 or more residents.

About 2 in 5 agencies had computer

files with information on traffic

accidents (41%) and driver’s licenses

(40%). 

Agencies with computer files on traffic

citations employed 66% of all sworn

personnel, those with computerized

traffic accident files, 59%, and those

with computerized driver’s license information, 51%.

About a third of agencies had computer

files containing information on traffic

stops (32%) and vehicle registration

(31%). About half (52%) of all sworn

personnel worked for an agency that

had computer records on traffic stops,

and about two-fifths (42%) for an

agency with computerized vehicle

registration information. 

Crime and calls for service records

Overall, 59% of sheriffs’ offices,

employing 80% of all sworn personnel,

had computerized information on calls

for service (table 35). This included

more than two-thirds of the agencies

serving 25,000 or more residents. 

Fifty-three percent of agencies, employing 66% of all sworn personnel, had

computerized incident-based crime

data. This included about two-thirds 

of the agencies serving a population 

of 50,000 to 249,999.

Forty-four percent of agencies, employing 51% of all sworn personnel, had

computerized files related to the

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)

Program’s National Incident-Based

Reporting System. More than half

(55%) of agencies, employing nearly

three-fourths (71%) of all sworn

personnel, had summary UCR files.

About two-fifths of agencies, employing

about two-thirds of all sworn personnel,

had computerized alarm records. A

majority of agencies serving a population of 50,000 or more had alarmrelated computer files.

Crime analysis and crime mapping

In 1999, 39% of agencies, employing

66% of all sworn personnel, used

computers for crime analysis (table 36).

A majority of the agencies serving

50,000 or more residents used computers for this function. A fourth of all

agencies, employing about half (49%)

of all sworn personnel, maintained

linked files for crime analysis purposes.

Related to crime analysis efforts in

sheriffs' offices is the use of crime

16 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

*National Incident-Based Reporting System.

Under 10,000 21 36 40 35 38

10,000-24,999 35 55 50 47 56

25,000-49,999 46 70 57 45 59

50,000-99,999 58 77 67 53 70

100,000-249,999 63 72 64 41 60

250,000-499,999 66 76 60 42 57

500,000-999,999 55 65 53 40 50

1,000,000 or more 58% 73% 50% 47% 65%

 All sizes 41% 59% 53% 44% 55%

 Uniform 

 Crime

 Reports-

 Summary

 Uniform 

 Crime

 Reports-

 NIBRS*

 Incident-

 based 

crime data

 Calls for 

Alarms service

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with computerized files on:

Table 35. Records of crimes and calls for service stored 

in a computerized format by sheriffs' offices, by size 

of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 34 44 31 31 19 27

10,000-24,999 41 57 38 42 31 30

25,000-49,999 40 70 46 52 30 27

50,000-99,999 41 70 57 66 45 41

100,000-249,999 51 66 42 57 46 37

250,000-499,999 37 59 44 56 46 30

500,000-999,999 40 59 44 55 38 47

1,000,000 or more 47% 54% 57% 57% 47% 40%

 All sizes 40% 59% 41% 47% 32% 31%

 Vehicle

 registration

 Traffic 

 stops

Traffic

citations

Traffic

accidents

Stolen

vehicles

 Driver’s 

 licenses 

Population 

served

Percent of agencies with computerized files on:

Table 34. Traffic and vehicle-related records stored in a computerized

format by sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 21 21 13

10,000-24,999 29 31 22

25,000-49,999 48 40 23

50,000-99,999 55 50 38

100,000-249,999 57 46 41

250,000-499,999 62 55 37

500,000-999,999 58 46 33

1,000,000 or more 65% 73% 53%

 All sizes 39% 36% 25%

Crime

mapping

Crime 

analysis

Population

served

With linked 

files for 

crime analysis 

Using computers for: 

Percent of agencies

Table 36. Use of computers for crime analysis 

and crime mapping by sheriffs' offices, 

by size of population served, 1999
mapping. In 1999, 36% of all agencies,

employing 60% of all officers, used

computers for this purpose. This

included 73% of the agencies serving 

1 million or more residents.

Internet

In 1999, 22% of sheriffs’ offices,

employing 59% of all sworn personnel,

had an Internet home page (table 37).

This included a majority of the

agencies serving 100,000 or more

residents, and represented an increase

over 1997 when 13% of agencies,

employing 48% of sworn personnel,

had a home page.

About three-fifths (61%) of agencies,

employing 82% of sworn personnel,

used computers for Internet access

during 1999. This included about fourfifths of the agencies serving 50,000 

or more residents.

Use of computers in the field

About two-thirds of sheriffs’ offices

serving 250,000 or more residents used

in-field computers or terminals during

1999 (table 38). Overall, 27% of

agencies, employing 58% of all sworn

personnel, used them. Laptops were

the type most commonly used with

23% of agencies, employing 48% of

sworn personnel, using them. 

About 1 in 12 agencies used carmounted computers (3%) or terminals

(6%). This included about half of the

agencies serving a population of

250,000 or more. Agencies using

car-mounted terminals or computers

employed 38% of all sworn personnel.

Just 1% of agencies used portable

hand-held computers or terminals.

Agencies serving a population of

500,000 or more (10%) were the most

likely to use them. Overall, 5% of

sworn personnel were employed by an

agency that used them.

Nationwide, sheriffs' offices had 15

in-field computers or terminals per 100

officers as of June 30, 1999. Those

serving 250,000 or more residents had

the highest ratio, more than 20 per 100

(figure 11). The next highest ratio, 11

per 100, was among agencies serving 

100,000 to 249,999 residents. The

lowest ratio, 3 per 100, was in agencies

serving 10,000 to 24,999 residents.

In 1990, 6% of sheriffs’ offices, employing 28% of all sworn personnel, were

using in-field computers or terminals. 

Since then significant growth in their

use has occurred in all population

categories (see cover graph). 

Among agencies serving 500,000 or

more residents, in-field computer use

went from 43% in 1990 to 70% in 1999;

in agencies serving 100,000 to 499,999

residents, from 13% to 52%; in

agencies serving 25,000 to 99,999

residents, from 6% to 30%; and in

agencies serving fewer than 25,000

residents, from 2% to 16%.

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 17

Under 10,000 49 9

10,000-24,999 50 8

25,000-49,999 65 20

50,000-99,999 76 37

100,000-249,999 83 51

250,000-499,999 87 66

500,000-999,999 74 66

1,000,000 or more 84% 73%

 All sizes 61% 22%

Internet

home page

 Internet

 access

Population

served

Percent of agencies with:

Table 37. Use of computers for 

Internet purposes by sheriffs' offices,

by size of population served, 1999

--Less than 0.5%.

Under 10,000 15 15 0 0 0 0 0 0

10,000-24,999 17 16 -- -- 0 0 0 0

25,000-49,999 24 20 5 0 5 -- -- --

50,000-99,999 40 34 16 6 10 1 0 1

100,000-249,999 46 35 20 7 14 -- 0 --

250,000-499,999 69 58 47 25 27 5 3 3

500,000-999,999 74 48 46 16 37 10 5 5

1,000,000 or more 63% 45% 49% 14% 42% 10% 4% 7%

 All sizes 27% 23% 8% 3% 6% 1% --

 Ter-

 minal

 Com-

 puter

 Either 

 type

 Ter-

 minal

 Com-

 puter

 Either 

 type

Laptop

computer

 Any 

 type

Population

served

Car-mounted Hand-held

Percent of agencies using in-field computers or terminal 

Table 38. Types of in-field computers or terminals used 

by sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

In-field computers or terminals per 100 officers

Number of in-field computers or terminals per 100 sworn officers

in sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999

Population serv ed

1,000,000 or more

25,000 - 49,999

10,000 - 24,999

100,000 - 249,999

50,000 - 99,999

500,000 - 999,999

250,000 - 499,999

Under 10,000

Figure 11
In 1999, 18% of sheriffs' offices, employing 33% of all sworn personnel, used

in-field computers or terminals to

produce field reports (table 39). Fifteen

percent of agencies, employing 35% of

sworn personnel, used them for some

in-field communications. Agencies

serving 250,000 or more residents

were the most likely to use in-field

computers for these purposes.

In 9% of sheriffs' offices, at least some

patrol officers could use in-field computers or terminals to access information

on wanted vehicles, wanted suspects,

or driving records (table 40). This

included nearly half of the agencies

serving 250,000 or more residents.

In 7% of agencies, officers in the field

could access information on stolen

property. This included about two-fifths

of those serving 250,000 to 499,999

residents, and about a third of those

serving 500,000 or more residents.

 

In 5% of agencies, computers or terminals could be used by officers in the field

to access criminal histories or information on prior calls for service at a

particular location. This included about

a third of agencies serving a population

of 250,000 to 999,999. 

About 3 in 8 sheriffs’ officers worked in

an agency where information on wanted

suspects (37%) was accessible to at

least some patrol officers via in-field

computers (figure 12). About a third

worked in agencies where information

on driving records (32%), and a fourth

where information on stolen property

(27%) or criminal histories (24%), was

accessible. A fifth worked in agencies

where in-field officers could access

calls for service histories.

In 10% of sheriffs’ offices, employing

11% of all officers, computer media or

data devices were used to transfer or

download crime incident reports to a

central information system (table 41).

Four percent of agencies, employing

9% of all officers, used telephone or

wireless transmissions.

18 Sheriffs' Offices 1999

Under 10,000 14 8

10,000-24,999 13 6

25,000-49,999 17 12

50,000-99,999 26 30

100,000-249,999 16 23

250,000-499,999 38 49

500,000-999,999 35 42

1,000,000 or more 47% 44%

 All sizes 18% 15%

 Communi-

 cations

 Field

 reports

Population

served

Percent of agencies using

in-field computers/terminals for:

Table 39. Use of in-field computers for field

reports and communications, by sheriffs'

offices, by size of population served, 1999

Mapping programs

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Percent of officers employed

Percent of sworn personnel employed by a sheriff's office in which patrol

officers have direct access to information through in-field computers, 1999

Stolen property

Prior calls at location

Criminal history records

Ty pe of inf ormation

Wanted suspects

Driv ing records

Crime analy sis sof tware

Figure 12

Note: Table excludes agencies not conducting

criminal incident report transmissions.

Under 10,000 87 9 4

10,000-24,999 87 9 4

25,000-49,999 86 12 1

50,000-99,999 79 16 5

100,000-249,999 90 6 4

250,000-499,999 86 10 4

500,000-999,999 80 2 18

1,000,000 or more 84% 12% 4%

 All sizes 86% 10% 4%

Phone/

 wireless

Computer/

data 

device

 

Paper 

report

Population

served

Percent of agencies using:

Table 41. Methods for transmitting 

criminal incident reports to a central

information system in sheriffs' offices, 

by size of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 0 0 0 0 0 0

10,000-24,999 2 2 2 1 2 2

25,000-49,999 2 2 5 4 6 6

50,000-99,999 8 9 18 14 20 20

100,000-249,999 10 11 19 16 21 22

250,000-499,999 34 34 51 41 55 50

500,000-999,999 26 30 36 30 43 42

1,000,000 or more 17% 21% 42% 35% 42% 46%

 All sizes 5% 5% 9% 7% 9% 9%

 Wanted

vehicles

 Wanted 

suspects

 Stolen 

property

 Driving 

records

 Criminal

histories

Calls for

service

histories

Population

served

Types of information accessible via in-field computer:

Table 40. Computerized information accessible to in-field officers 

of sheriffs' offices, by size of population served, 1999
Written policies and procedures

Many sheriffs' offices have written

policies and procedures to guide

officers through their work activities.

Eighty-six percent of them had written

policies or procedures on dealing with

domestic disputes, including 95% of

those serving 250,000 to 499,999

residents (table 42). 

An estimated 80% of sheriffs’ offices

had some type of written policy pertaining to discretionary arrest powers,

including 94% of those serving 250,000

to 499,999 residents.

About 3 in 4 agencies had written

policies or procedures pertaining to the

handling of juveniles (78%) and

mentally ill persons (71%) (table 43). 

Nearly a third had written policies or

procedures on responding to the

homeless (31%). 

About 9 in 10 sheriffs’ offices had

written policies or procedures dealing

with the use of deadly force (93%) and

nonlethal force (88%) (table 44). All

agencies serving 50,000 to 999,999

residents had a written deadly force

policy, and all of those serving 250,000

to 499,999 residents had one on the

use of nonlethal force.

Ninety-two percent of agencies had a

written code of officer conduct and

appearance, including all of those

serving 500,000 or more residents

(table 45). Eighty-two percent had

written procedures on how to handle

citizen complaints, including more than

90% of those 250,000 or more residents.

Nationwide, nearly all sworn personnel 

in sheriffs’ offices were employed by an

agency with written policies or procedures on officer conduct and appearance (98%), use of deadly force (98%),

use of nonlethal force (95%), handling

of citizen complaints (92%), and

handling of domestic disputes (90%)

(figure 13).

 

 Sheriffs' Offices 1999 19

Under 10,000 78 80

10,000-24,999 77 85

25,000-49,999 81 89

50,000-99,999 82 92

100,000-249,999 80 86

250,000-499,999 94 95

500,000-999,999 81 88

1,000,000 or more 85% 76%

 All sizes 80% 86%

Domestic 

disputes

Discretionary

arrests 

Population

served

Percent of agencies

Table 42. Written policies or 

procedures on discretionary arrest

powers and domestic disputes 

in sheriffs' offices, by size 

of population served, 1999

Under 10,000 35 74 67

10,000-24,999 32 78 70

25,000-49,999 24 79 72

50,000-99,999 33 81 74

100,000-249,999 31 79 74

250,000-499,999 29 80 70

500,000-999,999 25 69 69

1,000,000 or more 25% 77% 77%

 All sizes 31% 78% 71%

Mentally 

ill 

Juveniles persons

Homeless 

persons

Population

served

Percent of agencies

Table 43. Written policies or procedures 

on handling special populations in 

sheriffs' offices, by size of population

served, 1999

Under 10,000 76 86 56

10,000-24,999 78 87 68

25,000-49,999 83 98 59

50,000-99,999 90 98 60

100,000-249,999 88 98 66

250,000-499,999 94 96 71

500,000-999,999 91 100 67

1,000,000 or more 96% 100% 70%

 All sizes 82% 92% 62%

Maximum

work 

hours

Conduct 

and appearanceCitizen

complaints

Population

served

Percent of agencies

Table 45. Written policies or procedures 

on conduct and appearance, maximum 

work hours, and handling of citizen

complaints in sheriffs' offices, by size 

of population served, 1999

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of officers employed

Percent of sworn personnel employed by a sheriff's office

with written policies or procedures, by subject area, 1999

Subject area

Citizen complaints

Domestic disputes

Conduct and appearance

Deadly f orce

Nonlethal f orce

Juv eniles

Mentally ill persons

Maximum work hours

Homeless persons

Discretionary arrests

Under 10,000 85 78

10,000-24,999 92 84

25,000-49,999 97 93

50,000-99,999 100 95

100,000-249,999 100 98

250,000-499,999 100 100

500,000-999,999 100 91

1,000,000 or more 92% 92%

 All sizes 93% 88%

Nonlethal

force

Deadly

force

Population

served

Percent of agencies

Table 44. Written policies or

procedures on officer use of

force in sheriffs’ offices, by size

of population served, 1999

Figure 13
Methodology

The Law Enforcement Management

and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)

survey collects data from a nationally

representative sample of the approximately 19,000 publicly funded State

and local law enforcement agencies 

in the United States. 

This report presents data from the

1999 survey describing sheriffs' offices

in terms of their personnel, operations,

community policing initiatives, computers and information systems, and

written policies and procedures. 

The 1999 LEMAS survey questionnaire

was mailed to 3,319 State and local law

enforcement agencies. The initial

mailing of the questionnaire was

conducted in June 1999, and, unless

otherwise indicated, June 30, 1999,

was used as the reference date for

survey questions. 

Allowing for the exclusion of certain

types of special jurisdiction police, 895

law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

with 100 or more sworn officers as of

June 30, 1996, were included in the

sample as self-representing (SR)

agencies. This included 529 local

police departments, 306 sheriffs’

offices, the 49 primary State law

enforcement agencies, and 11 special

jurisdiction police agencies.

The self-representing (SR) agencies

were supplemented by a nationally

representative sample of agencies with

fewer than 100 sworn officers. These

nonself-representing (NSR) agencies

were chosen using a stratified random

sample with cells based on the type of

agency (local police, sheriff, or special

police), size of population served, and

number of sworn officers. The 2,424

NSR agencies selected included 1,556

local police departments, 694 sheriffs’

offices, and 174 special jurisdiction

police agencies. 

A total of 3,246 agencies responded to

the 1999 LEMAS survey for a response

rate of 97.8%. This included 883 SR

agencies and 2,363 NSR agencies.

The final database includes 2,052 local

police departments, 967 sheriffs’

offices, 178 special jurisdiction police

agencies, and the 49 primary State law

enforcement agencies.

The base weight for all SR agencies is

1. For NSR sheriffs' offices, the base

weight is 4. The final weight associated

with every agency, both SR and NSR,

is the product of the base weight, a

factor that adjusted for changes in the

universe since 1996, and a factor that

adjusted for any nonresponding

agencies in each cell. 

Some responding agencies did not fully

complete the LEMAS questionnaire.

When an agency did not supply a

response to an item, median value

imputation or ratio imputation was

used. Median value imputation uses

the median value of an item reported by

agencies in the same sample cell.

Ratio imputation uses the median value

of a ratio reported by agencies in the

same sample cell. 

Median value imputation was used to

impute counts of facilities, reserve

sworn officers, community service

officers, and nonsworn volunteers.

Ratio imputation was used to impute

counts of employees and computer

equipment. Every imputed item on the

database has an indicator that the

value has been imputed. Complete

documentation regarding sampling

procedures and nonresponse adjustments is available upon request.

Because the data from agencies with

fewer than 100 sworn personnel were

collected from a sample, the results are

subject to sampling error. Statements

of comparison in this report have been

tested to ensure that observed differences between values are significant at

2 standard errors (the 95%-confidence

level) or higher. The survey data are

also subject to response and processing errors.

20 Sheriffs' Offices 1999